Adam Johnson's cameo substitute appearance continued Manchester City's rise towards the top of English football but the referee, Martin Atkinson, played just as influential a role in a controversial victory which left Newcastle United's playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa with a broken leg.

Ben Arfa was carried off in distress after five minutes following a challenge from City's Dutch international Nigel de Jong, a tackle which could most kindly be described as "full-blooded", and Newcastle last night confirmed the 23-year-old had suffered a broken tibia and fibula of his left leg. He will have surgery tomorrow morningtoday but the club said in a statement that it has not set a time limit for the player, who is on loan from Marseille, to regain his fitness.

Opinion seemed divided as to the legality of the challenge, especially as Atkinson deemed it legitimate, and the Newcastle manager, Chris Hughton, chose his words carefully, although there was little doubting the sub-text of his comments. "Everybody will have their opinion, I'm quite sure, it's been shown enough times," he said.

"But my feeling was, at the time, it was a challenge that didn't need to be made. I probably don't want to go into whether it was a foul. The best thing I can say was it was a challenge that didn't need to be made. We have an exciting player who came off second best in a challenge and the news is not good. It has upset everyone in the dressing room."

If Atkinson's decision-making was debatable in the incident, Hughton was in no doubt that the official erred seriously in two penalty calls. The first presented Carlos Tevez with the opening goal, after the forward himself was tackled by Mike Williamson; the second, with Newcastle trailing 2-1, saw Atkinson turn down their appeals after Joleon Lescott tripped Shola Ameobi. "The referee has made two horrendous decisions," said Hughton.

"My first impressions were Williamson had played the ball and also it was outside the box. They were confirmed when I saw it on TV. Then my first impression when Ameobi went down was that his standing foot had been taken away from him and that was confirmed as well."

All of which, sadly for the young winger on the eve of an England squad announcement, detracted from the performance of Johnson. Three minutes after his introduction as a 72nd-minute substitute, he collected a pass from James Milner, cut into the penalty area, his balance and footwork allowing him to evade two defenders, before beating Tim Krul with a magnificently judged shot into the far, bottom corner.

The England winger has clearly still to convince the manager, Roberto Mancini, that he is dependable and worthy of a regular starting berth amid the much-hyped City revolution. There have been vague mutterings of his need to concentrate more fully on his profession but there is little doubt that, handled in the correct manner, Johnson is an exciting talent who could make a major impact on the English game for years to come, for club and country.

Indeed, for all the hundreds of millions invested by City in recent seasons, only Tevez can match Johnson for the excitement he generates among home supporters, who were calling for his introduction long before Mancini finally succumbed to their wishes and replaced one of his three holding midfield players in order to add width and flair to a team that was running out of ideas.

So much so that for long periods Newcastle looked well capable of emerging with at least a point, even after the 16th- minute incident which saw Tevez race ahead of the defender Williamson, who appeared to have won the ball with his challenge, only for Atkinson, well placed behind play, to point instantly to the penalty spot. Tevez took the penalty himself, a staggeringly well-hit effort down the centre of the goal for his fifth goal of the season, his 28th in 39 league games for the club since moving across the city from United last summer.

Newcastle responded in spirited fashion, however. Fabricio Coloccini forced Joe Hart into a fine, diving save with a volley from the edge of the area, a minute before Jonás Gutiérrez equalised after 23 minutes. The Argentinian winger chipped in a cross which Vincent Kompany half cleared, allowing Gutiérrez to respond rapidly, beating Kolo Touré to the rebound and dispatching an unstoppable shot past Hart via the underside of the bar.

The game hung in the balance until Johnson's late impact although Mancini's views on the winger's development went unsaid as the Italian manager sped off after the game to fly to Italy to be with his ill father.

"You've got to give credit to the boss," said Mancini's assistant, Brian Kidd. "He wasn't prepared for a draw, he wanted a win and the second-half tactics proved that. The ethics the boss has are it's not about individuals, it's about the squad, the team. Adam did well against Juventus in the week and again today he came up with that little big of magic he's always capable of."